PILGRIM'S PROGRESS

A roll of plastic sheet for bedding, a light jacket, blanket, a headscarf, a thin bamboo stick and flip-flops — that's all this pilgrim needs to make the difficult trek over rock, mud and snow in the cold and unrelenting terrain of the Himalayan mountains to the temple of Kedarnath (3,553 m ~ 11,657 ft). "Baba Kedarnath called me", a phrase that I would hear often repeated by pilgrims on the trek (this one in May 2014 for the reopening of the temple), echoes in my ear as I see the vacuous stare that underlines the steely determination that only blind faith can bring... Faith conquers everything!
Pilgrim at Limcholi Camp, Somewhere between Rambada and Kedarnath, May 2014